


Just Give In

by Hattietheunicorn, Razzamatazz



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: (because gifs are awesome), Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Alternate Universe - Rock Band, Anal Fingering, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Awkward Flirting, Blow Jobs, Dirty Talk, Don't Judge Me, Eventual Smut, F/M, Karaoke, M/M, Mutual Pining, Oblivious Bucky Barnes, Oblivious Steve Rogers, Oral Sex, Panic Attacks, Resolved Sexual Tension, Self-Indulgent, Skinny!Steve, Some Humor, gifs at the end of the story, like ridiculously cringey flirting, punk!bucky, sam's had enough of steve's pining, they both need to get a clue, this would be so much shorter if they just USED THEIR WORDS, winter soldier looking bucky
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-12
Updated: 2015-09-12
Packaged: 2018-04-20 09:24:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4782197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hattietheunicorn/pseuds/Hattietheunicorn, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Razzamatazz/pseuds/Razzamatazz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>STEP 1: flirt with a hot guy at a karaoke bar but forget to get his number<br/>STEP 2: form a rock band and hope said hot guy will audition for lead singer<br/>STEP 3: ????<br/>STEP 4: PROFIT</p><p>(aka Sam is fed up of Steve's pining and Steve and Bucky really need to learn how to communicate)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just Give In

**Author's Note:**

> Okay first I just want to say that I know very little about how bands etc work. I know that they probably would've needed a lot more practice than they get in this but let's just ignore that fact...  
> This story came from a very strange conversation with Hattietheunicorn about Sebastian Stan and karaoke, and you have her to thank for the smut in this fic.  
> There is a playlist of the songs The Avengers play in this fic that you can listen to [here.](https://8tracks.com/razz-a-ma-tazz/just-give-in)  
> Hope you enjoy and please leave comments (they are very much appreciated!)

Steve had been holed up in his dingy little apartment for the last month working on a total bitch of a commission. Well the commission itself wasn’t too bad, it was just the fact that it was for Tony fucking Stark. The genius, billionaire, playboy philanthropist. Steve had talked to the CEO of Stark Industries/Stark’s girlfriend/Stark’s personal handler Pepper Potts and she had assured him that Tony was a big fan of his art and would no doubt be delighted with the result. Although that didn’t really ease Steve’s nerves at the idea that _his_ art would be displayed in _Stark’s_ mansion for other rich people to ooh and ah at.

So Steve, being the stubborn son of a bitch he is, overworked himself and stressed himself out leading to his second case of pneumonia this year, which of course just stressed him out even more.

But now he had finished the painting and Stark was pleased with it, at least if the huge paycheck was anything to go by, and the pneumonia was on its way out. His best friend Sam decided this was cause to celebrate. That is how Steve found himself in a dark karaoke bar, sipping his overpriced drink and watching a middle-aged woman perform a godawful rendition of _One Way or Another._

“I hate karaoke,” he muttered to no one in particular as the woman tried and failed to hit a high note.

“Don’t be stupid, you love karaoke,” Sam contradicted absentmindedly from beside him, not really paying attention to Steve’s words as he scanned the bar.

“No, you love karaoke,” Steve huffed, only half pretending to be annoyed. A stuffy karaoke bar with bad singing and overpriced drinks wasn’t really how he wanted to spend his evening. He understood that Sam probably thought he was being helpful by dragging him out of his apartment, but the truth was Steve would rather be at home celebrating with a takeout and a movie.

He shook his head slightly to try and rid his bad mood. He’d finished his commission, he was practically over his pneumonia, he was out with his friends and he was going to have a good time and maybe make some decisions he’d regret in the morning. He wasn’t going to be a buzzkill, , _he wasn’t._

“You’re scarily good at it for someone who hates karaoke,” Clint chipped in as he set more drinks down on the table consequently pulling Steve out of his own head.

“Guys! That was one time!” Steve protested as he reached for his drink and hoped the dim lighting covered the flush that rose in his cheeks at the memory.

“Twice actually,” Maria smirked as she slid into the empty seat beside Sam who stopped his scan of the room and decided to join in Steve’s ribbing.

“I personally enjoyed your rendition of _Summer Lovin’_ with what was his name…” he clicked his fingers as he scrabbled around his already tipsy brain for the name. “Star Lord!” he announced with a smug smile on his face. “Didn’t you guys end up dating?”

Steve groaned and hid his face in his hands. “Oh my god I remember him! He’s the one who kept on making you mixtapes,” Maria exclaimed gleefully.

“Did you ever find out his real name?” Sam asked.

“Yes, I did,” Steve sat up, jutting his chin out defiantly. “It was Peter… something, I think…”

“You think?” Sam pressed, his voice sceptical.

“We only dated for like a week!” Steve tried to shout over his friends cackles. He pouted dramatically before taking another swig of his drink. “I came out to have a good time and I'm honestly feeling so attacked right now.”

“Aw, c’mon Steve, don’t be like that,” Clint threw his arm around Steve’s bony shoulders. “Anyways, I thought you made an excellent Sandy.”

“Here, here!” Maria laughed as she lifted her drink up in a toast.

“Seriously, fuck all you guys,” Steve tried to deadpan but the corners of his mouth betrayed him.

 

A few hours later they were all significantly drunker and Steve was thinking of calling it a night. Sam had already dragged Clint onstage to sing _We Are the Champions_ and Steve wasn’t sure if there was anything that could top that. That was until he heard the opening notes of his favourite song.

“HOLY SHIT!” Steve shouted as he bounced up and down like an excited preteen. “I love this song!” he said as he grabbed hold of Maria’s shoulder and shook it frantically.  
Steve turned to the stage to see who was singing what was, in his opinion, the best song ever written and felt his jaw drop. “Holy shit…” he said again but this time his voice was hushed.

Maria noticed his sudden change and craned her neck to see what Steve was looking at.

“Oh dear,” she chuckled as she nudged Sam and Clint to direct their attention towards the stage. “I think our Steve’s in love.”

Steve, however, was completely oblivious to their affectionate smirks and eye rolls because he was too busy focusing on the man who’d taken the stage, currently tapping his foot in time to the music as he waited for the intro to finish. Steve took that opportunity to appreciate the sight in front of him. The guy was wearing tight leather pants (ridiculously tight, like _how-in-gods-name-did-he-get-those-on?_ tight) and eyeliner that would give Billie Joe Armstrong a run for his money. Steve had never really had a thing for that but damn, this guy made it look good. He tucked his shoulder length hair behind his ear before casually removing the mic from the stand like this was something he’d done a hundred times before.

And then the guy started to sing…

_I don't wanna hear you've got a boyfriend_

_Sometimes you're better off alone_

_But if you change your mind, you know where I am_

_Yeah, if you change your mind, you know where to find me_

_'Cause I don't ever wanna be your boyfriend_

And Steve felt his mouth go dry because his _voice_. That guy didn’t so much sing as fucking purr. Evidently Steve wasn’t the only one to notice as there were soon many catcalls and whistles from the audience. “Take it off!” came a particularly loud female voice from the audience. The man smirked and looked unfazed as he carried on singing, slowly reaching for the hem of his faded band T-shirt.

He threw the shirt to the side to reveal a spattering of tattoos over his chest and full sleeves on both his arms featuring a prominent red star on his left. Steve itched to get a closer look at them, purely from an artist’s perspective of course…

Steve blushed as he attempted to reign in his thoughts. He flicked his eyes away from where he’d been staring, quite openly, at this man’s chest back up to the man’s face. Only when his eyes got there he found the man staring right back unabashedly. Steve’s eyes went wide and his blush darkened with the embarrassment of being caught staring, but the man grinned at him and shot him a barely there wink before carrying on singing, still maintaining eye contact.

_And never did I think that I_

_Would be caught in the way you got me_

_Push another girl aside and just give in_

Steve kept staring back at the guy. He wasn’t entirely sure if this was some kind of competition but either way he sure as hell wasn’t going to be the one to back down. The guy cocked his eyebrow as if he expected Steve to break first, but Steve just crossed his arms over his small chest and stared right back. Steve Rogers never backed down from a challenge, even if it was childish.

_Girls love girls and boys_

_Girls love girls and boys_

_And never did I think that I_

_Would be caught in the way you got me_

_But girls love girls and boys_

_And love is not a choice_

Eventually the guy on stage looked away and Steve smiled triumphantly, making sure that the man saw his smug expression the next time he looked over. When the song was over the man nodded his head slightly with a smile at Steve as if conceding victory before he collected his top and vacated the stage. A small smile tugged at Steve’s lips as he took a sip of his drink. Setting the glace down, he looked up and found all his friends staring at him with identical shit-eating grins.

“What?” he shuffled uncomfortably in his seat, suddenly conscious of the fact that his friends had been watching that entire thing.

“Nothing,” Sam shrugged. “It’s just that you practically creamed yourself watching that guy onstage.”

Steve opened his mouth to protest but was cut off by Maria asking “Are you at least going to go and talk to him?”

“Seriously, have you seen me?” Steve snorted, bitterness seeping into his tone as he gestured down at his meagre body.

“Well, considering that weird-ass mating ritual we all just witnessed and the fact that he was eye fucking you the whole time, I’d guess that guy has no problem with how you look,” Steve groaned looking over at the man apprehensively before Sam threatened to physically shove him across the room.

Steve bit his lip, considering his options. Worst case scenario: the guy laughs right in his face and Steve goes back to his friends and drinks until he forgets the whole embarrassing event. Best case: they hit it off then get married and live in a bungalow with three kids and a golden retriever named Dugan. _Getting ahead of yourself, Rogers_. He puffed himself up and took another gulp of his drink, alcohol was meant to give people courage right? “Fine, but just to get you guys off my back,” Steve grumbled as he started to make his way towards the man.

As he got closer he noticed a girl pushing her way through the crowd, obviously with the same intentions as Steve. He ignored the voice in the back of his head that was screamed _ABORT! ABORT!_ and continued through the crowd. The guy’s face lit up when he saw Steve but unfortunately the girl got there half a second before him.

“Hey, you were great up there,” she complimented. Steve recognised her voice, she was one of the main catcallers. She was cute, Steve noticed, a little taller than himself with rich brown hair that fell in loose curls around her daintily made up face. Steve couldn’t help feeling that he might as well just head back to his friends now.

“Thanks,” the man replied but kept looking at Steve. ‘ _Oh not this again’_ Steve thought, ‘ _enough with the fucking staring competitions’_.

“I’m Connie, what’s your name?” the woman asked, flirtatiously twirling a strand of hair around her finger. Steve fought the urge to roll his eyes at the action.

“Bucky,” he poked his tongue out to wet his lips then bit back a laugh at Steve’s very visible gulp. _Bucky was definitely flirting_ Steve decided, he’d barely looked at Connie, instead choosing to answer all her questions as if Steve had asked them.

Connie narrowed her eyes as she looked between the two men. “Y’know what? Never mind,” she huffed and walked away. Steve felt kind of bad for her but a small(ish) part of himself felt proud.

“So, what’s your name?” Bucky smiled, leaning against the table.

“Steve,” his hand shot forward for a handshake before he knew what he was doing. _Nice one Steve, what are you now some kind of businessman?_ He cringed at his own awkwardness, _please don’t let Sam be watching_ , but Bucky just smiled and shook the outstretched hand.

“Nice to meet you, Steve,” he sounded genuine which helped to calm Steve’s nerves slightly.

“You too,” Bucky withdrew his hand and Steve shoved his own into his pocket so they wouldn’t do anything else stupid. “I’m gonna go ahead and assume Bucky’s not your given name?” he teased, sounding far more confident than he felt.

“Nah, just a nickname, my parents aren’t that cruel,” he laughed at his own joke and Steve couldn’t help but find it kind of adorable. “Real name’s James, but I only get called that when I’m in trouble,” and there was that wink again.

“So Bucky, what do you do?” Steve asked. “That is when you’re not dancing around half naked in karaoke bars,” Bucky threw his head back and laughed like Steve was the funniest person he’d ever met.

“I’m actually a musician, well, struggling musician at the moment. My band just broke up, so I’m debating over joining a new one,” he said nonchalantly. “What about you, Stevie?”

“I’m an artist,” Steve crossed his arms over his chest and tried not to blush at his new nickname. Bucky laughed. “What? What’s so funny about me being an artist?” Steve crossed his arms tighter and stuck his chin out defensively.

“No, it’s not that,” he chuckled.

“Then what is it?” Steve asked, hostility creeping into his voice. He’d had plenty of people in the past mock him for his career choice and if this guy was going to be one of them he didn’t want to waste another second talking to him.

“It’s just that when you get like defensive you cross your arms in front of your chest, like you’re daring someone to challenge you. You did it when I was on the stage too.”

Steve opened his mouth to deny it before looking down at his arms crossed tightly in front of him. _The guy did have a point…_ he dropped his arms quickly. “So? What’s so funny about that?”

“Nothing,” Bucky shrugged. “I just think it’s kinda cute.”

“Oh… I…” Steve blushed and stumbled over several aborted sentences, scrabbling around for something to say in reply while Bucky waited patiently for an answer. “I’m just used to people trying to walk all over me or assuming I can’t do things, y’know because of my size,” _okay why did he just tell a guy who’s practically a stranger that?_

Bucky stared at him intently, which gave Steve the uncomfortable feeling that Bucky could see right into his thoughts ( _don’t think about fucking him, don’t think about… goddammit!_ ). Eventually he narrowed his eyes, a small smile playing across his lips as he said, “Right, cause you got nothing to prove,” Steve fought the urge to cross his arms under Bucky’s penetrative gaze so instead opted to run a hand through his hair.

“I…” Steve was saved from having to formulate some kind of response by Maria tugging on his arm, looking panicked.

“Steve! We gotta go! Clint threw up on someone and they look like they’re about to beat the shit out of him.”

Steve just about managed to call a hasty goodbye over his shoulder as Maria pulled him forcefully towards the exit.

They found Clint in the alley outside the bar with Sam along with a menacing looking man whose shoes were covered in vomit.

“Sam, hold my hearing aids,” Clint instructed as he passed them to Sam then balled his raised hands into fists, still swaying unsteadily on his feet.

“Okay big guy, let’s get you home,” Maria swept in to support Clint on one side while Sam took the other. Steve hailed a taxi, vaguely aware of Maria hurriedly apologising to the aggressive looking man as she and Sam practically carried Clint over to the cab.

After they manhandled Clint up to his apartment and into his bed, there was a hurried game of rock paper scissors to decide who would be staying at Clint’s to make sure he didn’t choke to death on his own vomit. Steve lost. He set out a glass of water and aspirin by Clint’s bed (which earned him a sleepy “thanks mommy”) before collapsing on the couch for the night. It was only then that he realised he hadn’t got Bucky’s number; he didn’t even know his last name for Christ’s sake! He rubbed the heels of his palms into his eyes and groaned at his own stupidity. Eventually he managed to drift to sleep, but only after he had played back every cringey moment of the evening in his head in excruciating detail.

 

\- - - - - - - - -

 

Over a week later, Steve still hadn’t stopped thinking of the man in the bar who’d been able to see straight through him within five minutes of knowing him. But he wasn’t pining. _He wasn’t_. No matter what Sam might say.

“Seriously, man, stop moping,” Sam complained, nudging Steve with his foot who was curled up in the corner of the couch. “Just looking at you is bringing me down.”

“I’m not moping,” Steve mumbled. He sounded pathetic even to his own ears.

“Dude, you’re looking at photos of cute gay couples on Tumblr, you are definitely moping,” Maria pointed out as she plucked Steve’s phone out of his hands.

“Oh piss off,” Steve complained but there was no force behind it.

“Why don’t you try and find him?” she suggested, pushing Sam’s legs off the couch and plopping down next to Steve.

“How?” Steve said, and yep he was definitely whining now. “All I know is his first name and that he’s a ‘struggling musician’.”

“We could start a band,” Clint called from the kitchen.

“What?” Sam, Maria, and Steve said simultaneously.

“Well you said he was thinking of joining a new band,” Clint walked into the living room, shovelling ice cream into his mouth straight from the tub. “So, we could make a band and put out an ad for a broody singer with shoulder length brown hair etc. etc.” Clint tailed off waving his spoon in the air, as if his plan was the most obvious idea ever.

“Do you think that could work?” Steve asked as he perked up from his foetal position.

“Sure,” Clint shrugged at the sceptical looks he was getting from both Sam and Maria. “I mean worst case scenario we form a kickass band, best case Steve might actually end up getting laid.”

“Oh I can think of a lot more worst case scenarios,” Sam grimaced.

“I kinda know how to play the keyboard, so I guess I could learn a few songs,” Steve said slowly as he started to put the pieces together in his head, choosing to ignore Sam’s comment. “Clint can play the drums, Maria…”

“I know some basic guitar,” she shrugged.

“Okay, awesome, and Sam can learn to play bass,” Steve decided, deaf to Sam’s protests. “Hey, why haven’t we done this before? This is gonna be so cool. We need to think of a name!”

Steve sat down opposite Clint on the floor so they could brainstorm ideas for names while Maria and Sam exchanged weary looks. When Steve got an idea in his head there was no stopping him, they were better of just accepting it and keeping out of his way.

“Hey Steve,” Sam called, pulling him out of his discussion with Clint on whether the band should be called The Avengers or The Howling Commandos. “Why don’t you just go on Grindr to find a guy like a normal person?” Steve flipped him off before turning back to his conversation.

“Aww, c’mon Sam, you know our Steve is a hopeless romantic,” Maria smiled as she stole Clint’s abandoned tub of ice cream.

“He’s sounding like a hopeless stalker at this point,” Sam teased earning him another swear from Steve who didn’t bother to look round this time.

After a few minutes of hurried discussions Clint and Steve had decided to name the band The Avengers and Steve began assigning jobs.

“Clint says he knows a guy who can get-”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, hang on a second,” Sam interrupted. “Is that a clipboard? Where the hell did you get a clipboard from? Have you got a powerpoin-” Sam was cut off by a sharp kick to the shin by Maria.

“As I was saying,” Steve continued, seeming unperturbed by Sam’s mockery. “Clint knows a guy who can get us some kit, Maria can use connections to find us some venues, I will start working on some flyers, and Sam…” Steve paused, looking up from over the clipboard. “You just focus on learning how to play bass. Hopefully we should be ready to start practising this weekend,” Sam raised his hand. “Yes?”

“Sorry, but where exactly will we be practising?” Sam asked.

“Oh at yours of course,” Steve waved his hand vaguely and ticked something off the list of his clipboard.

“Oh that’s how it is?” Sam sounded incredulous.

“Well, you’re the only one with a garage so…” Steve pointed out. “Oh and everyone should start thinking of songs that they want to play, I was thinking maybe alternative rock or pop punk kind of thing so no Marvin Gaye,” he shot a warning look at Sam who just sighed in response.

“This Bucky guy better be worth it,” Sam all but growled under his breath as he let his head flop onto the back of the couch.

 

\- - - - - - - - - -

 

“Natasha, I’m bored!” Bucky whinged as he lay on the couch, nudging her thigh with his head.

“Mommy’s working right now, we’ll play later,” Natasha responded, not taking her eyes off her computer screen as she typed rapidly.

“But I’m booooored!” he stomped his feet against the couch for emphasis.

“Get a job.”

“I have a job!”

“Oh yeah, you’re a ‘musician’, how could I possibly forget?” she rolled her eyes dramatically.

“Hey, no need to say it like that!” Bucky pouted.

“But seriously, James, when was the last time you had a gig? You should join another band,” Bucky groaned and pouted even more. “I mean it,” Natasha closed the laptop and pulled Bucky’s head into her lap so she could run her fingers through his hair as she talked. “My friend was telling me the other day about how he needed a lead singer for the band he was in. He gave me a flyer and everything, it sounds right up your street, I’ll go get it.”

Bucky grunted in protest as he was dislodged so that Natasha could find the ad, he let his head flop gracelessly back onto the pillow. After digging through some coat pockets Natasha returned and shoved the piece of paper into Bucky’s face.

“Here. Read. Go audition then stop bugging me,” she instructed.

Bucky looked at the crumpled flyer in his hand. The first thing that caught his eye was the shield with a star in the middle and the colours of the American flag on it. ‘ _How patriotic_ ’ he smirked but read on.

 

_LEAD SINGER WANTED FOR ALTERNATIVE ROCK BAND._

_We are a first time band called The Avengers looking for a lead singer/front man._

_We are situated in Brooklyn and looking for someone to fit our image (twenties, broody, longish hair, not afraid to wear eyeliner)._

_We mostly play alternative rock and pop punk but would be open to suggestions._

_Call to arrange an audition._

 

“Meh, I might give it a shot,” Bucky folded the piece of paper and shoved it in his pocket.

“What do you mean you ‘might give it a shot’? The description is ‘twenties, broody, longish hair, not afraid to wear eyeliner’, you tick all those boxes. The only way it could be more specific to you is if it mentioned you by name.”

“I don’t-”

“James Buchanan Barnes, you are going to that audition or so help me god I will drag your sorry ass there!”

“Okay, okay!” he raised his palms in surrender. After being friends with Natasha for over five years he knew not to argue with her. She could be scary as fuck when she wanted to be and although they’d known each other since they were teenagers, he still wasn’t sure how many of the rumours he heard about her were true. He’d like to think none of them were but he wasn’t that naïve.

“Good, I’ll call Clint and tell him you’re gonna audition. Saturday good?” she didn’t wait for a response before she was dialling the number.

“I preferred it when you were ignoring me,” Bucky muttered as he reached for the TV remote.

 

\- - - - - - - - - -

 

“Well that was a disaster,” Steve sighed leaning against the side of the garage door after seeing another hopeful candidate out.

He’d actually had a good feeling about that one, he still wasn’t Bucky but he’d certainly looked the part, sang well too. The only downside was he sounded like a total psychopath when he started talking. Kept on going on about how he was “burdened with a glorious purpose” and was the “rightful king of Asgard” which Steve was fairly sure wasn’t even a real place. It also didn’t help that he walked around calling people “mewling quims”, Steve didn’t know what that meant but he got the impression that it wasn’t pleasant.

“Hey, don’t give up yet,” Clint called from where he was beating out a steady rhythm on the drums while Sam tried to get the bassline from _Seven Nation Army_. “My friend Nat said she’s sending someone called James over.”

“What? When?” Steve’s head snapped up at the familiar name. He tried not to get his hopes up though; they’d already had a James Falsworth _and_ James Rhodes, neither of which had turned out to be Bucky.

“Sometime this afternoon,” Clint shrugged.

“Thanks, very informative,” Steve scowled. Clint just shrugged again before breaking into a drum solo.

About an hour later they were clumsily practising _Tainted Love_ , as well as they could without a lead singer, which mostly consisted of everyone trying to keep in time with each other while Clint shouted random lines as he remembered them. So of course that was the moment when Bucky appeared at the open entrance to the garage in almost exactly the same clothes as before except he’d swapped to dark skinny jeans and added a battered leather jacket. Steve’s fingers stumbled over the keys and he winced as he played a couple of wrong notes while trying not to look completely overjoyed at seeing Bucky. He had to remember: Bucky didn’t know the whole reason this band had been set up was to find him, he thought it was just a regular audition. He signalled to the others to stop before walking over to where Bucky was leaning. _Play it cool, Rogers._

“Hey Stevie!” Bucky greeted, looking surprised but pleased  as he pushed himself off the wall and entered the garage. “Fancy seeing you here.”

“Yeah, what a coincidence,” Steve responded, shooting a death glare at Clint who was giggling quietly. “This is Clint, Maria, and Sam,” he introduced gesturing to each in turn.

“Hey, I’m Bucky,” he smiled as he shook their hands individually.

“Oh we know,” Maria chuckled under her breath before Steve turned his glare on her.

“You here to audition?” Steve asked. _Of course he’s here to audition, why the hell else would he be here?_ He cringed inwardly.

“Yeah, thought I’d give it a shot.”

“Do you need us to play any like backup music or anything?” Steve checked but was relieved when Bucky said he was fine, he didn’t think they were good enough yet to try and play any songs except the handful they’d already learnt.

Sam and Clint sat down on the battered couch with Maria perched on the arm and Steve sat cross-legged on the floor at their feet. Bucky made his way over to the mic and picked up Maria’s guitar.

“May I?”

“Be my guest,” she replied. He slipped the strap over his head and pulled his hair up into a bun at the back of his head.

Steve watched as Bucky strummed the strings, getting a feel for the guitar before launching into a song that Steve vaguely recognised.

_And this is how it starts_

_You take your shoes off in the back of my van_

_My shirt looks so good_

_When it's just hanging off your back_

Bucky leaned in, brushing his lips softly against the microphone as he sang. He closed his eyes and swayed gently in time with the guitar. Steve noticed Bucky’s performance was different this time. Before he’d been strutting around, all swagger, and making a show for the people at the bar. He still exuded the same confidence but this time it was like he hardly even noticed there were other people in the room, like he’d slipped into some kind of trance. It was although he’d dropped into his own private bubble which left Steve feeling almost like a voyeur for watching.

Steve barely noticed when the song finished but was pulled from his daze by the cheers and whooping from his bandmates. Bucky, who was back to his regular self, gave an exaggerated bow before putting Maria’s guitar back in its stand.

“So, what’s the verdict?” Bucky shoved his hands in his pockets casually, but the way he bit his lip and rocked slightly on his feet betrayed how nervous he really was.

“You’re hired!” Maria exclaimed when she realised that Steve probably wouldn’t regain his ability to speak for a little while yet. “We were thinking of meeting Wednesdays at seven and Saturdays at twelve to practice, unless that doesn’t work for you?”

“No, no that works fine for me,” he said, breaking into a real smile. “I’ve got to go and tell Nat,” he jerked his thumb towards the open garage door. “It was good to see you again, Stevie, and to meet you guys,” he raised his hand to wave before rushing out, hurriedly calling, “See you guys Wednesday,” over his shoulder before disappearing.

“I think he broke Steve,” Sam laughed as he clicked his fingers in front of Steve’s face.

 

\- - - - - - - - - -

 

Bucky practically ran back to his and Nat’s apartment in his haste to share the good news. He came bounding into the apartment and launched himself on Natasha who was spread out on the couch looking for something to watch on Netflix. It was only then that he realised he probably could have phoned instead of booking it home to tell Nat, but he felt like he should share the news in person.

“Natasha! Natasha! Natasha! Natasha!”

“WHAT?!”

“I got the job!”

“That’s great James, I’m pleased for you,” she sounded sincere but still didn’t look up from the TV.

“But that’s not even the best part!” Bucky bounced up and down above her, trying to get her attention so he could share the real reason he was acting like a hyperactive puppy. “Y’know that skinny blonde twink I met at the bar a few weeks ago?”

“The one you haven’t been able to stop talking about since?” she finally looked away from the screen, suddenly intrigued.

“That’s the one, well it’s _his_ band! How weird is that? It must be like fate or something,” Bucky sighed before flopping back against the cushions.

“You don’t believe in fate,” Natasha pointed out.

“Well yeah, that’s why I said ‘or something’.”

“Does he know how much of a total dork you are?”

“No, and he must never find out!” Bucky narrowed his eyes threateningly at her. “I must keep my brooding and sexy exterior intact for as long as possible,” Bucky gave Natasha what she called his ‘smoulder look’ to demonstrate.

“Fine, fine, I won’t tell him what a nerd you are,” she sighed holding her palms up. “He’ll probably find out himself anyway as soon as Star Trek Wars, whatever it’s called, gets mentioned.”

“That’s not what it’s called and you know it, they are two completely different-”

“When’s practice?” Natasha interrupted, smirking at how easily Bucky had risen to her bait.

“Every Wednesday and Saturday,” he huffed and stole the remote from her, serves her right for taking the piss out of his passions.

“Do you need me to vacate the apartment on those evenings then?” she raised her eyebrows suggestively.

“What? Why?” he replied, completely missing what she was getting at.

“Well in case Steve offers you a lift home then you invite him upstairs and one thing leads-”

“OH MY GOD, NAT! STOP!” Bucky interrupted, pressing his hands over his ears which did little to block out Natasha’s cackles.

 

\- - - - - - - - - -

 

“What about this one?” Steve asked as he scrutinised his reflection in the mirror.

“Great,” Sam replied without looking up from his phone.

“Sam! You didn’t even look!” Steve pouted before storming off to change his clothes for at least the sixth time. “How about this? Too dressy?” Steve reappeared, fidgeting with the collar of a blue shirt.

“Steve, it’s just band practice,” Sam rubbed his hands over his face sounding equal parts exasperated and exhausted.

“Yeah, you’re right, too dressy,” Steve disappeared to change yet again before emerging wearing worn skinny jeans and a plaid shirt with its sleeves rolled up over a white tee.

“I swear that’s the first outfit you tried on, although I’m not really sure since that was over an hour ago,” Sam commented, finally looking up from his phone.

“Well y’know, first thought, best thought,” Steve sighed as he pulled on his beanie and fixed his glasses in the mirror.

“You and your freaking beat poets, what does that even mean?” Sam muttered in response before following Steve out of the apartment then down the street to his place.

The garage door was already open when they got there and Bucky was helping Maria and Clint set up. Bucky straightened up and smiled when he noticed that Steve had arrived, his eyes skimming over him appreciatively.

“Hey Stevie,” Bucky greeted as he fixed the mic stand to the right height. “Hi Sam,” he added quickly.

“Hey man,” Sam smirked and shared conspiratorial glances with Maria.

Steve noticed a red head he didn’t recognise sitting on the couch by the wall and shot a questioning look at Bucky.

“Oh! Sorry, this is my friend-”

“Natasha Romanoff,” the red head interrupted as she got up and shook Steve’s hand.

“You wouldn’t by any chance be the famous Nat that Clint’s always talking about?” there was a clatter of drums and Steve looked over to see Clint threatening him in sign language.

“Oh really, Barton? What’s this about you always talking about me?” Natasha said as she walked over to Clint wearing a shit-eating grin.

“I hope you don’t mind,” Bucky said more quietly to Steve. When he was this close he could really get a look at Steve’s eyes behind his large hipster glasses that took up most of his face. They were so fucking blue… wait, shit he’d been saying something and now he was just staring at Steve like a crazy person… _Focus, Barnes!_ “She wanted to hear us practice and I thought it couldn’t hurt. She was in my old band and was good at telling us when something wasn’t working if something sounded off,” he rubbed the back of his neck, suddenly looking sheepish like he was afraid Steve was going to be pissed.

“No, that’s great! We could probably use all the help we can get,” Steve laughed, wincing when it came out a bit too high, but Bucky’s face broke out into a more relaxed smile anyway.

“Okay, awesome. Clint thought it would be a good idea to get food once we’re all set up then talk about the setlist,” Bucky informed him as Steve dumped his bag and set up his keyboard.

“I was thinking pizza,” Clint chimed in. He’d managed to get over his initial embarrassment and was now shamelessly flirting with Natasha.

“Of course you were,” Steve replied fondly. Clint, knowing everyone’s orders off by heart, was already pulling out his phone.

“Got any requests, Bucky?” Clint asked.

“Oh I’m not fussy,” Bucky winked causing Steve to let out an undignified snort then turn an alarming shade of crimson.

An hour later they had a rough setlist scribbled down on the back of some receipts and Steve had been pleasantly surprised at how similar his and Bucky’s music taste was. They chose a few songs that everyone knew well to start on and after a few songs everyone was feeling more at ease. After about half an hour Natasha got up from her place on the couch and started to pace in front of them. Fifteen minutes later she began to suggest small changes as they were playing. By the time they were winding down she’d taken to shouting ‘encouragements’ at them that sounded more like threats to Steve’s ears and yelling what Steve assumed were swear words in Russian.

“Sorry about that,” Bucky gestured at Natasha who was chatting amiably to Maria as they packed away. “She gets a bit… passionate, I can ask her not to come again if it’s a problem.”

Steve just laughed and shook his head and _God_ Bucky wanted to hear that sound more often. “No, no it’s fine. I think it was actually quite helpful to have someone giving honest feedback, even if she can get a bit scary.”

“Yeah, well she’s Russian. When I first met her in high school there was a rumour going round that she worked for the KGB. Just a rumour though!” Bucky assured, noticing the way Steve’s eyes grew wide and worried. “Don’t let her hard exterior fool you, she’s really a total sap who cries at sad movies and watches an unhealthy amount of cat videos.”

Steve laughed again, causing Bucky to feel pride swell in his chest at being the one to cause that beautiful noise, and looked over to where Natasha and Maria were currently ganging up on Clint about something he said. Clint was trying to get Sam to back him up, but Sam seemed all too happy to just lean back and watch him desperately try and dig himself out of the hole he’d got himself in. Steve felt Bucky watching him from the corner of his eye and turned back to catch him openly staring.

“What? Have I got something on my face?” Steve wiped the back of his hand across his mouth nervously.

“No, you’re fine,” Bucky laughed. “I was wondering if uh- you um…” he started but tailed off.

“What?” Steve raised his eyebrows at Bucky’s strange behaviour and sudden loss for words.

“Uh nothing, it’s nothing,” Bucky frowned and shook his head. “I should probably go and pull her off him,” he joked, gesturing towards where Clint was still cowering. “See you next week, I’ll bring Chinese,” Bucky promised before cajoling Natasha away from Clint and making a hasty retreat, waving slightly before he disappeared out of sight.

‘ _Well that was weird…_ ’ Steve mused to himself before finding a bin liner to clear away the pizza boxes.

“So…” Sam drew out the word as he sidled up to Steve.

“So…?” Steve replied as he shoved the boxes into the bin bag.

“So have you asked him out yet?” he nudged Steve in the side with his elbow and gave him an exaggerated wink.

“It’s only the first practice session!” Steve laughed as he tied up the bag.

“Yeah, but I saw the way you guys were looking at each other. Anyways, wasn’t the whole point of this to ask him out?” Sam pointed out as he took the rubbish from Steve.

“Yeah but not as soon as he walked through the door!” Steve protested. “Just give me a bit of time, okay?”

“Sure, whatever you say,” Sam gave him a sceptical look before taking the trash out.

 

\- - - - - - - - - -

 

After a few months of practicing (or in Steve’s case a few months of trying, and failing, to work up the nerve to ask Bucky out) Natasha decided they sounded good enough to record a demo and start putting out adverts. So Steve set up a website for the band and Natasha got them a deal at a recording studio because the guy who worked there ‘owed her a favour’. Steve was too scared to ask what this guy owed Natasha for that he was willing to record them for next to nothing but he was thankful all the same.

“I think we should record _I Wanna Get Better, Take Me to Church,_ and _I Don’t Like Mondays_ for the demo. They’re your best songs,” Natasha told them once she’d gotten off the phone with the recording studio.

“I should bloody well hope so, took me fucking ages to learn that intro to _I Don’t Like Mondays_ ,” Steve muttered.

“Aww diddums,” Bucky smirked and ruffled Steve’s hair.

“Shut up, jerk,” Steve shoved him playfully before trying to flatten down his hair. “All you have to do is sing and look pretty.”

“You think I’m pretty?” Bucky raised his eyebrow, enjoying the way Steve’s face heated up and he struggled for something to say. “Anyway, you’re forgetting the very important clapping I have to do in that song.”

“If you guys are done with your awkward flirting,” Natasha interrupted. “Nick said that we could go and record next Saturday, so make sure that your ‘clapping’ is perfect by then.”

 

Next week they found themselves outside a rundown looking building, waiting for Nick to arrive so he could unlock the studio. When he finally showed up, half an hour late, he greeted Natasha gruffly and unlocked the door before disappearing inside. Natasha followed him, seemingly unperturbed by his eyepatch and intimidating glare. Clint, Maria and Sam shrugged before following also. Steve remained where he was.

“You okay?” Bucky asked, noticing how Steve hadn’t moved and was looking very uncomfortable. “I’m sure this guy can’t be that bad if he’s a friend of Nat’s.”

“No, it’s not that,” Steve replied. He felt frozen to the spot, he could feel himself starting to hyperventilate. _Oh god, don’t have a panic attack, please dear god…_

“Steve? You’re not looking so good, maybe you should sit down,” Bucky was already lowering them down towards the pavement. Steve’s breaths were now coming in fast and shallow, his eyes wide and terrified as he hunched shaking on the floor against the wall.

“Steve, look at me,” Bucky commanded, Steve wrenched his eyes up to try and focus on Bucky’s face in front of him. “You’re having a panic attack but it’s going to be okay,” he reassured Steve. “Just breathe, okay? Focus on that,” Bucky breathed deeply, signalling for Steve to try and copy him.

Steve tried to breathe in deeply. The first few attempts were nothing but wheezy sobs, but as he listened to Bucky’s encouragements of “you can get through this” and “good job” he felt his breathing start to even out a bit more.

“There you go,” Bucky moved to sit beside him and rub comforting circles on his back as Steve’s breathing started to return to normal. “You’re okay, Stevie.”

Once his breathing was back under control Steve felt tears rush to his eyes, probably from a mix of shame and the adrenaline. Bucky was probably going to think he was some kind of freak now. He bit his lip and tried to will himself not to cry but a few treacherous tears managed to escape and roll down his face.

“Hey, shhh, it’s okay,” Bucky pulled him closer, wrapping his arms tightly around Steve and rocking him gently. Steve cried harder as he let out a particularly pathetic sounding hiccup.

“’M s-sorry,” Steve managed to get out between sobs.

Bucky shushed him again. “You’ve got nothing to be sorry for.”

“I don’t know what happened. I just- I dunno. It’s just a stupid demo but I just don’t want to mess it up, though I guess I already have. God I’m so _stupid_ ,” Steve spat out once he’d finished crying, scrubbing at his eyes roughly.

“No, you’re not stupid,” Steve just muttered angrily in response. “Hey, no, look at me,” Bucky instructed, he cupped Steve’s cheek and Steve reluctantly looked at him. “You’re a lot of things Steve Rogers,” Bucky used his other hand to push Steve’s sweat damp hair off of his forehead. “But you’re not stupid, _especially_ not for having a panic attack.” his blue eyes bored into Steve’s, willing him to believe his words. “And as for the demo you’re going to be amazing.”

Bucky pulled Steve back in for another hug, resting his chin on the top of Steve’s head. Steve didn’t know how long they stayed like that before they broke apart upon hearing an irritated huff from above them as a middle aged woman had to walk around where they were blocking the street.

“Lovely day, isn’t it?” Bucky shot her his best charming smile. Her eyes narrowed as she took in Bucky with his scuffed leather jacket, ripped jeans and long hair, his arm still curled possessively around a blotchy faced Steve. She shot them a dirty look before puffing herself up and dramatically storming away. Steve and Bucky waited until she was out of earshot before dissolving in a fit of giggles.

“We should head inside, they’re probably wondering where we are,” Steve sighed as he moved to get up. Bucky pushed himself off the wall and stood up, holding out a hand to help Steve which he begrudgingly accepted.

“You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to. I know after I have attacks I always feel exhausted.”

“No, it’s fine,” Steve _did_ feel exhausted, but he wasn’t going to be the one to ruin this for everyone. “Wait, you have panic attacks?” he asked, suddenly realising what Bucky had said.

“Yeah, got into a car crash when I was younger, nearly lost my arm,” he held up his left arm and pushed up the sleeve to show him the scarring and uneven skin barely visible under the tattoos. “Left me with PTSD, panic attacks, and some pretty gruesome nightmares,” he explained as he shoved his sleeve back down.

Steve didn’t know what to say except for, “I’m sorry.”

“S’okay, it’s not your fault,” Bucky shrugged. “Anyway, it’s a lot better now,” he opened the door dramatically for Steve. “Shall we?” he smirked as he ushered him in, back to his normal cocky self.

“There you guys are! We were just about to send out a search party,” Clint joked when they finally walked in. He looked like he wanted to ask what happened but Steve’s still flushed face and Bucky’s protective arm around his shoulders stopped him.

 

The recording went fairly smoothly although Bucky kept on asking Steve if he was okay until Steve snapped at him hissing that “I’m _fine_ , goddammit Bucky!” after which Bucky resigned himself to shooting Steve concerned looks instead. Nick didn’t say much before, during, or after the recording but Natasha assured them all that he was impressed.

“We should do a group photo for the CD cover and dress up like superheroes,” Clint proposed once they were back at Sam’s. He pulled Maria over and they tried out various poses, Maria posing like a bodybuilder while Clint showed off his ass and looked ‘seductively’ over his shoulder.

“I think we should use that cool shield thing from the flyer,” Bucky suggested, which made Clint mumble something like ‘ _fine, just ignore my perfectly valid and innovative idea_ ’.

“You do?” Steve asked, pleasantly surprised that Bucky had remembered the shield, let alone thought it was cool.

“Yeah, and to be honest I’m not sure if having us all in tights and lycra on the cover would really help our cause,” Bucky grinned.

“Hey, just because you can’t pull it off the red spandex look doesn’t mean the rest of us can’t,” Sam argued causing Steve to laugh and try to distract himself from thoughts of Bucky in lycra that were currently running through his head.

“All good bands have a recognisable symbol, like how the Rolling Stones have that tongue thing and The Who has a target, The Avengers can have a shield.”

“Seems kinda contradictory though, being called The Avengers but then having a shield as a symbol?” Maria interjected.

“Good point,” Steve thought for a moment before grabbing a pen and paper and sketching something out. “What about this?” he showed the group the drawing of an A on top of a circle.

“Yeah, that’s cool,” Sam nodded.

“That’s perfect!” Bucky exclaimed, looking at Steve like he’d just solved world hunger.

“It’s just an A inside a circle…” Steve laughed at Bucky’s reaction.

“Still, it’s better than anything I could ever do.”

“Simple but effective,” Natasha agreed, as she Clint, and Maria came over to have a look.

“Just like-” Clint started, an amused smirk playing across his lips.

“Clint, I swear if you make some kind of dirty joke I will have you on the floor in under a second, and not in a fun way,” Natasha cut Clint off. He opened his mouth as if to protest but then thought better of it and closed it.

 

\- - - - - - - - - -

 

It was Maria’s idea to film some videos of them performing to put on YouTube and their websites so the people who wanted to hire them could look at it. They decided to keep the videos simple, just of them performing in the garage, but to be honest they didn’t really have many other options of places to film. Clint liked the idea of trying to re-enact the music video to _Here It Goes Again_ with treadmills but that idea was shot down fairly quickly given Clint’s terrible coordination and history of ending up in hospital.

On the day of the filming, Bucky was fixing his eyeliner a compact when he caught Steve coming into the garage behind him. He turned around to say hi which was when he noticed Steve had a very painful looking black eye.

“Holy shit, Steve! What happened?” He rushed over and began to fuss over him but Steve just waved him off.

“I see Captain America has made another appearance, what was it this time?” Sam asked sounding annoyed but unsurprised.

“Piss off, there was some dick who was harassing a girl so I stepped in,” Steve dropped his messenger bag by the sofa.

“Who’s Captain America?” Bucky asked.

“That’s Steve. It’s what we call him when he helps little old ladies cross the road or saves cats  from trees or, in more extreme cases, gets his ass kicked because he’s too dumb to back down from a fight,” Sam replied staring pointedly at Steve.

“I’m gonna go and make coffee, anyone want anything?” Steve bit out, leaving before anyone had the chance to reply. Bucky excused himself and followed Steve into Sam’s small kitchen.

“What the hell were you thinking, Stevie?!” Bucky exclaimed once he shut the door to the kitchen behind him.

“Wasn’t the first time I’ve got beaten up, won’t be the last,” Steve muttered as he slammed mugs down and refused to look at Bucky.

“This happens often?”

“I don’t like bullies,” Steve shrugged still avoiding Bucky’s eyes.

“That doesn’t mean you have to get the shit beaten out of you! Christ, Stevie, _you’re_ hardly the best person to stand up to bullies.”

As soon as the words were out of his mouth Bucky realised he’d made a mistake. Steve rounded on him, when Steve finally met his eyes Bucky saw they were full of anger and hurt. He narrowed his eyes irritably and despite his left being almost swollen shut it still had the effect of making Bucky feel like a total asshole.

“What, just because I’m small I shouldn’t do anything, is that it? I should just look away like everybody else?” Steve raised his voice, moving forward to invade Bucky’s personal space until they were practically breathing in each other’s exhales, his body thrumming with anger.

“Yes, if that stops you from landing yourself in hospital!” Bucky raised his voice to match Steve, despite the fact that they were now only inches apart.

“I would rather end up in hospital knowing I did the right thing than be a coward and not get involved,” Steve’s voice dropped to little more than a whisper. “You start running they’ll never let you stop.”

They both stared daggers at each other, neither one wanting to back down first. Eventually Bucky sighed and rubbed his face in frustration before removing his hand to look down at Steve. He tilted Steve’s chin up to get a better look at his shiner, Steve huffed quietly but allowed Bucky to move his head. Bucky whistled lowly. “You should probably get some ice on that,” his eyes flicked down to Steve’s lips before he lowered them to the floor and forced himself to drop his hand and turn away.

Steve turned back towards the kitchen counter to look at the mugs set out haphazardly. He had been doing something… _Right, coffee_. He yelped when he felt something cold pressing against his neck and whipped round to find Bucky with a sheepish grin holding a bag of frozen peas.

“It’s a bit hypocritical don’t you think?” Bucky murmured, his eyebrows pinched together and concern clear on his face as he pressed the bag gently to Steve’s swollen eye. “That is the fact that you’re constantly refusing people’s help but then helping little old ladies across the street and getting beaten up for people you’ve never met before.”

“The difference being that I don’t need help. I can get by on my own, Buck,” Steve took the bag from Bucky’s hand to press it more firmly against his face.

“The thing is you don’t have to,” Bucky raised his left hand to squeeze Steve’s shoulder and sought out Steve’s eyes with his own, trying to convey everything he wanted to say but couldn’t. _People care about you, Stevie. You’re not a burden. You’re so fucking loved, I wish you could see it._ Steve looked back at him, still looking slightly irritated and clearly unable to hear Bucky’s thoughts. Bucky sighed and shook his head before throwing his arm around Steve and effectively ending the moment. “C’mon, they’ll be wondering where we got to,” he led them out of the kitchen and back into the garage.

Their friends all tried their best to look like they hadn’t been eavesdropping by busying themselves with the instruments. Natasha sent Bucky a questioning look which he responded to by shaking his head ever so slightly.

“Does this mean we’re not going to be able to film today?” Maria asked gesturing towards Steve’s very obvious black eye.

“I dunno, we could smear eyeliner all around his eyes and make it look like it’s on purpose, y’know the whole Marilyn Manson look,” Bucky joked, trying to act like he and Steve hadn’t just had a ‘moment’. Was it a moment? What the fuck was a moment anyways? Whatever you wanted to call it, that definitely felt like something.

“Give him here,” Clint pulled Steve out from under Bucky’s arm and sat him down on the couch. He dragged over a large box and opened it revealing an assortment of makeup.

“Is it just me who’s concerned about how much makeup Clint has and how well he knows how to use it?” Sam stage whispered to Maria as Clint worked.

“Fuck you, Wilson. I’ll have you know I used to be a makeup artist.”

“You worked in a department store,” Natasha pointed out.

“Yes, as a makeup artist! Now do you want me to fix his face or not?”

“That might be beyond even your skill…” Sam teased and Steve directed an obscene gesture at him. After five minutes of delicately dabbed at Steve’s face Clint stepped back to reveal that Steve’s black eye, though fairly swollen, was gone.

“Wow, Clint, I didn’t know you were so talented,” Natasha moved in closer to Steve to get a better look at Clint’s work. “Still puffy though, we’ll just have to angle your left side away from the camera,” she decided before clapping her hands and ordering people to their places.

 

“Clint! I told you to stop pulling faces!” Natasha scolded later as everyone gathered around Sam’s laptop to watch the footage back.

“Uh, that’s my normal face,” Clint clutched his chest dramatically looking offended.

The bickering carried on around Steve but he focused on the screen instead watching how the band worked together. They looked pretty good, he thought. Bucky started each song with the mic in the stand but after a few lines he usually ended up taking it out so he could walk around or dance. Despite having practised with him for over four months now, Steve was still surprised at how Bucky moved to the music and performed. He looked at himself on the video, flinching slightly at the lovesick expression on his face every time he looked at Bucky. He didn’t think it was that obvious, but it was clear from the video that how he felt about Bucky was written all over his face, and since Bucky hadn’t acknowledged it in any way it must mean he doesn’t feel the same way.

Steve got up to go to the bathroom, Bucky watched him leave the room, wondering if he was okay and whether or not he should go after him. He’d been acting kind of weird since their fight in the kitchen and Bucky couldn’t help but feel worried, although he knew Steve would resent Bucky ‘babying’ him.

“Bucky?” Natasha’s voice caused him to tear his gaze away from the door Steve had left through. “Can I talk to you for a second?”

“Sure,” Bucky allowed himself to be led further towards the back of the garage where the others were less likely to hear them, not that they would be listening anyway as they were all still too busy squabbling over the video. “What’s-”

“Why haven’t you told him yet?” she spoke quietly so the others wouldn’t overhear.

“Told who what?” Bucky asked raising his eyebrows at Natasha’s serious tone.

“You know exactly who and what I mean, James,” she sighs. “Why haven’t you asked Steve out yet?”

Bucky’s mouth worked for a few seconds but no sound came out as he tried to think of something to say. “I tried…” he settled on.

“Oh really?” she doubted, putting her hands on her hips. “When?”

“At the end of the first band practice.”

“And when you say you ‘tried’?”

“I kinda lost my nerve,” he mumbled, dropping his eyes to the floor to avoid Natasha’s disbelieving glare.

“So you lost your nerve once, over four months ago, so now, what? You’re never going to try again?”

“I dunno, it just never seems like the right time…”

“James, look at me,” he snapped his eyes up to Natasha’s face, he knew better than not to follow a direct order from her. “There will never be a right time and while you’re wasting your time waiting for the stars to align, or whatever the fuck you’re doing, you’re causing the both of you pain,” Bucky opened his mouth to interrupt. “And don’t you dare try and tell me that he’s not suffering too or try and convince me that how he looks at you is just platonic. I know you’re not all too keen on letting your emotions show but Steve is terrible at hiding his and you would have to be blind not to see how he feels about you.”

This time it was Bucky’s turn to look incredulous. He crossed his arms over his chest and scoffed at Natasha’s suggestion.

“Seriously? Jesus Christ, how can you be so dim?” she rolled her eyes and pulled him back over to the screen. “Here, look at this and then tell me that he’s not head over heels for you.”

Bucky turned to watch the screen.

“Oh…” he managed to say after a few minutes.

“Yeah, ‘ _Oh’,_ ” Natasha echoed, rolling her eyes so hard Bucky thought she might strain something.

 

 

Steve splashed some water on his face and spent a few minutes collecting himself. When he came out of the bathroom Sam was leaning against the wall waiting for him.

“What?” Steve asked innocently, trying to walk past Sam.

“You know what,” Sam replied in a tone that told Steve he was having none of his bullshit. He caught Steve by the upper arm to stop him from walking away. “Come on, Steve, you have to tell him. You went through all this effort to try and find him and now you’re just what? Wooing him with your awkwardness?” Steve attempted to defend his actions but Sam cut him off. “By all means carry on with your longing staring technique, but I have a better one: USE YOUR WORDS. Seriously man, get your shit together.”

Steve bristled, tugging his arm free so he could cross them over his chest. “If my ‘longing staring’ is so obvious then why hasn’t Bucky made a move?”

“Because he’s just as much of a lovestruck dumbass as you are and he’s probably thinking the exact same thing,” Sam countered without so much as missing a beat.

Steve snorted in disbelief before walking away.

“Maybe I’ll just tell him for you!” Sam called after him, causing Steve to whirl his head round so quickly he almost got whiplash. “Okay, that was a low blow and I’m sorry. You know I’d never do that, but seriously, this is painful to watch,” Steve just glared at him before continuing down the hall into the garage, only just avoiding the temptation the slam the door behind him.

 

\- - - - - - - - - -

 

The next week, Steve was still peeved at Sam as he walked to his house for practice. He suspected he was more annoyed at the fact that Sam was right, that Steve should talk to Bucky, rather than actually being mad at Sam. He usually was right in these situations, but that didn’t stop Steve being annoyed at him shoving his nose in (even if it was because I cared about Steve).

Sam was already in the garage, leaning over the arm of the couch to talk to Maria, when Steve arrived next week (well of course he was already there, it’s _his garage_ for goodness sake!). They hadn’t talked since the last practice and he glanced up from his conversation when Steve walked in, shooting a questioning look, silently asking if they were okay. Steve considered for a moment before swallowing his pride and nodding at  Sam who smiled slightly and nodded back before continuing his conversation with Maria. That was all they needed to know that all was forgiven, Sam knew that Steve hated to admit when he was wrong and he wasn’t gonna be an asshole and force it out of him.   Despite the fact that Steve was still kinda pissed he hated fighting with his best friend and was grateful that he’d been given a way out.

“What are you guys talking about?” Steve dropped his bag on the floor before seating himself on the couch next to Maria.

“Oh nothing, nothing,” Maria shrugged a shoulder while giving him a smirk that showed it most certainly was not nothing. “We just got our first gig, no biggie,” she said offhandedly while examining her nails like they’d suddenly become fascinating.

“Seriously?” Steve was torn between feeling excited and totally unprepared and like his breakfast was going to making a reappearance at any second.

“Seriously,” she confirmed, no longer able to hold in the beam that overtook her face.

“That’s not even the best bit,” Clint broke in. “It’s at SHIELD!” at that Steve’s mouth fell open in a comical ‘O’ shape. “I know right?!” Clint said in response to Steve’s stunned face. “You know that that scary eyepatch guy who recorded our demo? Well apparently he’s a close friend of the owner of the club and he put in a good word for us.”

“What’s this?” Bucky asked as he and Natasha walked in.

“We’ve got our first gig, at the best club in all of Brooklyn no less,” Sam answered and even he was unable to hide his obvious excitement.

“Oh my god, SHIELD? Are you serious?” Bucky didn’t wait for a response before turning to Natasha. “Did you know about this?”

“Nick told me he wanted to give Phil the demo but I didn’t want to say anything in case I  jinxed it,” she admitted before settling herself on the couch between Steve and Maria.

“When is it?” Bucky asked, practically buzzing with anticipation.

“Two weeks on Saturday,” Maria said. “Phil told me that if it all goes well then it could become a regular thing.”

“No pressure then,” Steve muttered under his breath.

“Ah don’t worry, Steve,” Bucky sat on the arm of the couch and hooked his arm around Steve’s neck. “We’re gonna be awesome, we’re The Avengers!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Steve rolled his eyes at Bucky’s optimism. He shoved him jokingly causing Bucky to wobble dramatically before falling off the couch onto the floor, where he crossed his arms and pouted up at Steve. He couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled up in his chest at the sight on Bucky sitting on his ass looking like a stroppy toddler, and yep, he should probably try and wipe the obvious look of infatuation off his face.

“Honestly, I try to be reassuring and I get attacked,” Bucky huffed as he stood up and brushed himself off before squeezing onto the couch between Steve and Natasha where there was clearly not enough room. He wiggled his hips to make room for himself, deaf to their protests.

Bucky threw his arms over Steve and Natasha but quickly withdrew his arm from around Natasha after she spoke a few choice words to him in Russian. Steve laughed at Bucky’s reaction to what Steve assumed were threats from Natasha. He looked away and caught Sam’s eye who was giving him a look that practically screamed ‘ _fucking tell him already!_ ’ Steve rolled his eyes in response. He would tell Bucky... at some point in the foreseeable future. He just wanted to savour Bucky’s friendship for as long as possible before he told him how he really felt and saw everything blow up in his face. He knew that Bucky wasn’t the sort of person who would stop being friends with him just because of Steve’s feelings, but it would no doubt change the dynamics of their relationship, cause Bucky to look at him differently, maybe even feel sorry for him. Steve thought he could probably deal with Bucky’s rejection, hell he’d even started to prepare himself for it, but he didn’t think he could handle Bucky’s eyes, that he was so used to being filled with warmth and laughter, being filled with pity towards him instead. So Steve wants to hang onto what he has just for a little bit longer, sue him.

 

\- - - - - - - - - -

 

Two weeks that Saturday, The Avengers found themselves setting up at SHIELD. Although it was only seven when they started to unpack their gear and get set up on the small stage the bar was already buzzing with activity.

“How are you doing?” Bucky asked as he held the keyboard while Steve got the stand to the right height.

“Like I’m either gonna throw up or have an asthma attack, maybe both?” Bucky laughed as he lowered the keyboard onto the stand.

“So, nervous as fuck?”

“Yeah, pretty much,” Steve affirmed. He plugged in the keyboard and played a few experimental keys.

“Would you believe me if I told you that everything’s going to be fine?”

“Probably not, but thanks,” Steve grinned nervously before bending over to rummage in his keyboard. “Hey, have you seen my peddle thingy for the keyboard?” Steve asked as he checked through the pockets. “Aha! Never mind, found it,” Steve brandished the peddle in the air and plugged it in before turning round to find Bucky blatantly staring at his ass. Bucky’s eyes flicked back up to Steve’s face looking like a kid who’d been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. “Were you checking me out?” Steve smirked.

Bucky floundered a little before throwing his bravado back on. “Maybe,” he shrugged, his eyes twinkling.

“Wouldn’t blame you,” Steve pretended to busy himself with the keyboard. “After all, I do have a fantastic ass,” Steve flashed him a wink and a lopsided smile that he hoped made him look sexy rather than making him look like he was having some kind of stroke.

With that he jumped down from the stage and sauntered out to the van to help unload the rest of the stuff. He could feel Bucky’s eyes following him out so he added an extra sway in his hips to prove his point. Once he was out by the van he realised what he’d just done and allowed himself to wince at his own awkward attempt at flirting. But, as he helped carry Clint’s drums into the bar, he noticed that Bucky was still checking him out although more subtly now, so his seduction tactics couldn’t have been _that_ terrible.

After they got set up and had a quick(ish) soundcheck Natasha called them in for a pep talk.

“Do we have to do the huddle thing?” Maria asked as they gathered in a circle with their arms around each other. “It just feels very high school.”

“Okay, guys,” Natasha started before Clint could start to sing _We’re All in This Together._ “This is your first show so you’re probably shitting yourself, but there’s no need. Just play like you have been in practice and you’ll be fine,” when Natasha finished she was greeted by stunned faces. “What?”

“Nothing, it’s just that was very different to what you normally tell us during practice,” Clint commented, thinking of Natasha’s very colourful vocabulary that often made an appearance when Natasha was ‘motivating’ them.

“Fuck off, Barton,” she said affectionately. “There’s an after party at mine and James’ to celebrate if all goes well, and if it doesn’t then we can all get drunk anyway. Not that I don’t have every confidence in you guys.”

 “You wanna say anything?” Bucky nudged Steve.

“Uh…” Steve responded feeling put on the spot. “Avengers assemble?”

“Oh please tell me we’re not going to do that cheesy thing where we put our hands in the middle?” Sam groaned

“Yes, yes we are, everyone hands in,” Bucky instructed. “Samuel…” he said in a warning tone when Sam kept his arms where they were. He grumbled but put his right arm in anyway. “Okay, Avengers assemble on three. One… Two… Three… AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!” Bucky shouted and everyone else just groaned.

“Now it definitely feels like I’m back in high school,” Maria muttered as they broke apart and made their way onto the stage.

Bucky checked over his shoulder once they were all onstage, making sure everyone was ready. He turned back towards the mic and took in a steadying breath. “Hey, we’re The Avengers and this song is called _Cherry Bomb_ ,” he was met by a polite smattering of applause and a wolf-whistle from Natasha, Clint counted them in and they started playing.

The crowd, that had seemed fairly disinterested before, were soon captivated by Bucky’s voice and dancing, just as Steve had been the first time he’d seen Bucky perform. Before he knew it, they were already halfway through their set and Bucky was telling the crowd that they’d be back in ten minutes.

Steve made his way out of the side door into the alley beside the bar to catch his breath. He turned round when he heard the door slam again and just about had time to register a sweaty Bucky barrelling towards him before he was hoisted off his feet and swung around.

“Put me down!” Steve hit Bucky’s chest, trying to sound serious but he couldn’t keep himself from laughing.

“Did you hear that applause, Stevie? They loved us!” Bucky exclaimed, still rocking Steve from side to side, his feet kicking uselessly half a foot above the ground.

“Seriously, Buck, put me down!” Bucky eventually listened to Steve’s pleas and dropped him back on the ground but kept his hands on Steve’s waist. “You do know we’re only halfway through, right?” Steve teased, his lips turning up in a bemused smile.

“Yeah, but still. We were amazing, Stevie. _You_ were amazing,” Bucky’s eyes flicked down to where his hands were resting on Steve’s waist, like he’d just noticed how close they were. However, unlike the time in the kitchen, he didn’t move away. Bucky slowly inched closer, his eyes looking into Steve’s silently asking if what he was doing was okay. Steve nodded minutely and let himself lean in closer. Just as Steve let his eyes flutter shut there was a slam as the fire exit was flung open again.

Bucky and Steve sprang apart instantly before spinning round to see the source of the disturbance. Sam was standing in the doorway looking sheepish and guilty as hell.

“Uh… Nat wants you guys to come back in so she can get you to do a shot before the second half,” Sam explained before disappearing back inside.

Steve sighed before heading back inside but he stopped at the door when he noticed Bucky wasn’t following him. “Aren’t you coming?”

“Just gonna have a smoke first,” Bucky held up his pack to demonstrate.

“I didn’t know you smoked,” Steve cocked his eyebrow questioningly.

“Yeah, only on special occasions though,” he winked as he lit up. Steve nodded before retreating back into the bar.

Sam started to apologise as soon as Steve reached the table that Natasha had snagged for them. “Seriously, Sam, you don’t have to apologise,” Steve assured him. “You didn’t interrupt anything.”

“That’s not what it looked like to me.”

“Just drop it, okay?” Steve snapped before downing the shot that Natasha offered him.

Bucky reappeared a few minutes later smelling of smoke. He downed his shot and grimaced slightly before shaking his limbs and jumping up on the stage.

“Looks like we’re on,” Maria said as she got out of her seat and followed Bucky back onto the stage. Sam shot Steve another apologetic look which Steve responded to by squeezing his shoulder as he passed. After all it wasn’t Sam’s fault that he had bad timing and Steve didn’t want to ruin the night by staying mad at him.

They finished the gig feeling on cloud nine, high on adrenaline and the crowd’s cheers. Their good mood only increased when they got off the stage only to learn from Natasha that Phil had liked what he’d seen and wanted them to play every Saturday night. It took them far less time to pack away than in did to set up, mainly because they just threw all their gear in the back of the van haphazardly, spurred on by the promise of alcohol and pizza once they got to the after party.

Natasha must have called some people to get everything sorted while they were out because by the time they got back to her apartment the party was already in full swing. As they walked in a big blonde man greeted them each with a big bear hug before being dragged away by a woman called Jane who was presumably his girlfriend. Steve was shocked by the amount of people that had turned up, he didn’t think he even knew this many people.

“Who are these people?” Steve hissed to Natasha as they pushed their way through the crowded room. “Are they even old enough to drink?” he pointed at a group of kids who couldn’t be older than teenagers.

“They’re fine,” Clint waved him off. “I mentor them at the sports club.”

“So they _are_ just teenagers then.”

“Look, Steve, there’s Skye and Fitz-Simmons, you know them,” Natasha pointed vaguely into the crowd of people. “And there’s Nick talking to Wade, mind you that’s probably not a good idea,” Natasha commented noticing the way Nick was glaring at Wade who was gesturing wildly. “Clint you should probably go and distract Wade.”

“On it,” Clint dodged through the crowd and pulled Wade away from a very relieved looking Nick.

Steve separated himself from Natasha when he saw Matt and Peggy on the other side of the room and went to join them.

“Steve!” Peggy wrapped her arms around him as soon as he got within arm’s length. “Sorry I couldn’t make the show, by the time I finished work you guys were already packing up,” she apologised, her British accent still strong despite spending nearly a decade in America.

“I just caught the last ten minutes but you guys sounded great,” Matt chipped in.

“Thanks guys,” Steve replied and leaned in to hug Matt as Peggy released him.

They spent some time catching up. Steve had met Matt in high school when some kid thought it would be a fun idea to steal Matt’s white cane. Steve had stood up to the bullies which had earned him a rough beating. But the strange thing was one second he was on the floor, being beaten to a pulp, but then the kicks stopped and when he looked up the bullies were all on the ground, Matt standing above them breathing slightly heavily. Matt had helped Steve up and walked him to the nurse’s room and they’d been firm friends since then. He met Peggy later when he was in art school and they hit it off straight away, people always thought that they were together, they probably would have been too if it weren’t for the fact that they were both hella gay. But now Peggy was doing some top secret job for the government and Matt was a lawyer which meant that Steve didn’t get to hang out with either of them as much as he wanted to anymore.

Steve looked over to where Bucky was talking to Johnny, who had Bucky trapped against a wall and was demonstrating something with eager hand gestures (Steve had _no_ desire to know what he was talking about). Bucky sent Steve a look that could only be interpreted to mean ‘ _help me!_ ’ so Steve excused himself from his conversation and made his way over.

“Hey Johnny,” Steve greeted when he got close enough to be heard over the hubbub of the room. Bucky’s relief at Steve intervening was palpable.

“Hey, Steve-O!” Johnny pulled him under his arm and gave him a noogie. “Awesome show by the way.”

“Thanks. Hey, have you seen Ben? I think he was looking for you?” Steve was released quickly from his headlock.

“Oh was he?” Johnny started to back away. “I’d probably better go and find him then…” he mumbled before turning and disappearing into the throng of people dancing.

“Okay…” Bucky looked at Steve with wide eyes. “First of all, thanks. Second, what the hell kind of voodoo magic did you use to get him looking so freaked?” Bucky asked in awe.

Steve laughed at Bucky’s amazement. “Johnny tried to steal Ben’s girlfriend,” Steve explained. “And since Ben has some serious muscles and anger issues, Johnny tends to make a hasty retreat whenever Ben’s around.”

“Huh, what a dick,” Bucky stared over at where Johnny was now trying to chat up America, who was looking at him like he was something she’d found on the bottom of her shoe. “Although, you look just like him you know,” Bucky looked from Steve to Johnny. “Except smaller and cuter,” he teased.

“Everyone always says I look like him but I can’t see it,” Steve shrugged, hoping that Bucky couldn’t see his blush in the dim lights.

Bucky looked like he was about to say something when opening chords to _Safety Dance_ started to play and his eyes grew wide with excitement. “I love this song!” he shouted, practically bouncing with joy. “Dance with me Stevie!” he tried to pull Steve towards the middle of the apartment.

“Nu-uh, no way!” Steve laughed, digging his heels into the carpet. Bucky huffed and dropped his arms to the side, considering for a moment.

“Okay, okay,” Bucky sighed, raising his hands to signal defeat and Steve almost believed he’d given up that easily. That was until a wicked smile tugged at his lips and he reached down to lift Steve off the floor for the second time that evening.

“Bucky!” Steve yelled as he was hoisted over Bucky’s shoulder and carried through the crowd with Bucky shouting things like “Move out the way, Captain Buzzkill coming through”.

He dropped Steve in the middle of the apartment and held onto his hands to stop him from running away. “C’mon, Stevie!” Bucky swung Steve’s arms from side to side.

“Seriously, Buck, you’re so embarrassing,” Steve barely managed to get out from laughing.

“ _We can dance if we want to, we can leave your friends behind. 'Cause your friends don't dance and if they don't dance, well, they're no friends of mine_ ,” Bucky sang loudly, making it clear that he wasn’t listening to what Steve was saying. He pulled Steve into his chest before pushing him out. Bucky pulled him in again then raised their joined hands above their heads and tried to get them both to spin under them ending up with them in a tangle of limbs.

Eventually, after Bucky decided he’d embarrassed him enough, he heeded Steve’s pleas and led them back over to the side of the room to catch their breath. (Although Bucky was more out of breath from laughing at Steve’s terrible dancing than actually dancing himself.) He high fived a white haired kid who was dancing topless behind a makeshift DJ booth as they passed.

“Do you know that guy?” Steve asked as they leaned against the wall trying to recover from the exertion.

“Yeah, that’s Noh-Varr. Best DJ ever,” Bucky replied looking over to where Noh-Varr was now dancing with Kate.

“Is Noh-Varr his real name?”

“No fucking clue,” Bucky laughed. They stood in comfortable silence for a bit, watching people dancing and making fools of themselves.

“So about earlier, y’know outside the bar-” Bucky started without preamble.

Steve’s stomach dropped. Here it was, the whole ‘ _it was a mistake, it’s not you it’s me’_ speech, he’d been having such a good time as well. He interrupted Bucky before he could get much further, just because he know what Bucky was going to say didn’t mean he was any more willing to hear it. “Look, let’s just not talk about it, okay?” Steve tried to make his voice sound nonchalant and not like he kind of wanted to cry.

“Oh um…” Bucky’s shoulders slumped. He chewed his lip before nodding slightly, his head turned towards the floor. “Yeah, I mean I- okay,” Bucky kicked himself mentally, he must of totally misread things earlier. Natasha was wrong, of course Steve didn’t like him back, why the hell would he?

“I’m gonna get another drink, do you want one?” Steve asked, pulling Bucky out of his inner turmoil.

“Yeah, I’ll come with you,” Bucky smiled at Steve, if a little forced, and followed him into the kitchen where Clint and Sam were losing a game of beer pong to Maria and Natasha.

Steve grabbed two beers and passed one to Bucky as they leaned against the kitchen counter to watch the game. Two turns later, Natasha sunk the last shot and whooped in delight while Clint groaned and downed the beer. Natasha and Maria high fived before breaking out into their individual victory dances.

“I demand a rematch!” Clint slurred, pounding his fist on the sticky table while Sam supported most of his weight.

“Come on, Clint, don’t be a bad loser,” Maria smirked.

“Yeah, Clint,” Natasha stuck her tongue out at him. “Hey, we should have a toast, since we’re all here,” Natasha decided, already filling up some of the empty cups from beer pong. “To The Avengers’ first gig!” Everyone held up their cups and drank.

“Yeah, it went pretty well, considering-” Clint started but was cut off by Maria loudly asking who wanted another game of beer pong.

“Considering what?” Bucky asked. Steve held his breath, he was pretty sure Maria and Sam both did the same, all of them silently hoping that Clint had the good sense to keep his mouth shut but…

“Well, considering the band was only set up so Stevie boy could track you down,” Clint laughed, moving from where he was leaning on Sam to lean on Steve instead.

“Clint…” Sam said warningly but Clint continued. Steve stood rooted to the spot in fear, he prided himself on never running away but right now that was all he wanted to do.

“Yeah, since our Steve here,” Clint shook Steve good-naturedly, “didn’t get your number at that karaoke bar, we decided to start a band to try and find you,” Clint continued to talk no matter how much Steve wanted him to shut up. “Which was my idea by the way and I think it turned out pretty great.”

The room was silent when Clint stopped talking, the only sound was the muffled music coming from the living room. Sam, Steve and Maria stared at Clint in horror while Bucky and Natasha just looked at Steve with a mix of confusion and disbelief.

“Shit…” Clint muttered when his brain finally caught up with his mouth. “I shouldn’t have said that.”

“Bucky, do you think I could talk to you in private?” Steve asked but kept his eyes fixed on the kitchen table instead of the person he was talking to.

“Uh yeah, sure,” Steve dislodged Clint and made a swift exit from the kitchen. Bucky followed and led Steve into his room, closing the door behind them to muffle the sound of the celebration that continued oblivious to Steve’s predicament.

Steve sat down on the edge of the bed awkwardly while Bucky leaned against the wall crossing his arms over his chest and waiting for Steve to explain. Steve opened his mouth to say something but closed it after a few seconds when he realised he had no idea what to say. After repeating that action a few times Steve just settled on mumbling “I’m sorry”.

He flicked his eyes up to Bucky’s face, looking for any kind of reaction. Bucky still looked slightly confused but not mad, so that was something. Steve took in a deep breath and turned his eyes back to the floor before he explained.

“Look, I really liked talking to you at that bar then I was seriously bummed when I didn’t get your number. Clint suggested starting a band to try and find you ‘cause you said you were looking for work, although now I think about it that sounds kinda stalkerish,” Steve laughed quietly to himself. “I didn’t think it would actually work but it did. Then of course I was too awkward to actually ask you out and I thought you didn’t like me back but you’re a really great friend and I didn’t want to lose that,” Steve babbled. “So yeah… that’s it, all my cards on the table,” he raised his eyes cautiously to gauge Bucky’s reaction. “I understand if-”

Steve was interrupted by Bucky’s quiet snickering.

“What the hell are you laughing at?” Steve huffed crossing his arms in front of his chest as his embarrassment was replaced with annoyance. He’d just told Bucky everything, made himself emotionally vulnerable and all Bucky could do was fucking laugh. 

He got up and tried to push past Bucky to use the door. “What? Where are you going?” Bucky’s smile slipped slightly.

“Well I’ve said everything I’ve got to stay and there’s no point in me staying if you’re just going to laugh at me,” Steve grumbled, still trying to shove Bucky out of the way.

“You are such a fucking punk,” Bucky laughed again. Steve drew himself up, opening his mouth to retort when Bucky cupped the side of his face and leaned down. He brushed his lips softly against Steve’s, not giving him a chance to respond before pulling away.

“Okay… what?” This time it was Steve’s turn to look confused. “You… I- what?” Bucky laughed again, much to Steve’s annoyance. “Will you stop fucking laughing at me and explain what the hell is going on?”

“Look, Stevie,” Bucky kept his right hand cupping Steve’s face and brought the other to rest on his hip. “I was gone for you the second I saw you tryna stare me down at that damn karaoke bar.”

“Really?” Steve felt the corners of his mouth turn up in a shy smile at Bucky’s confession.

“Of course,” Bucky replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “You’re this stubborn little punk who carries the world on his shoulders but doesn’t for a second let in weigh him down, you sing along way too high to your favourite songs even though you don’t know the words, you acts all innocent and blush at everything but will come out with the filthiest jokes when people least expect it, and you even orchestrated this whole thing just to try and see me again. How could I not fall in love with you?”

Steve stood dumbfounded for a minute, letting Bucky’s words sink in, before eventually blurting out, “You love me?”

Bucky’s face fell.

“Aw shit, is that too soon? You don’t-” Steve shut him up with a kiss which Bucky responded to eagerly.

“You’re such an idiot,” Steve breathed between kisses. “We could’ve been doing this for the last five months.”

"Well, I guess we'll just have to make up for lost time then," Bucky smirked before crowding Steve against the door with kisses that quickly turned heated, dissolving into a messy clash of teeth and tongues. They both groaned as Bucky rutted his hips against Steve's, pressing their growing erections together.

Between kisses he reached between them and started to slowly unbutton Steve's shirt, still slowly grinding down onto Steve's now fully hard dick. Steve reacted to this by tugging Bucky's jacket roughly down his arms and throwing it off to the side.

"Is this okay?" Bucky asked through deep breaths as he pushed Steve's shirt down his shoulders letting it drop to the floor. Steve nodded, eyes never leaving Bucky's lips before quickly diving in for another kiss. After a few minutes of heated kisses and the occasional moan coming from Steve, Bucky broke the kiss and took a step back. Steve, confused attempted to follow, but a hand pressed against the middle of his chest stopped such a movement.  Bucky spoke slowly and clearly, eyes fixed on the blonde. "Stevie, I need you to tell me if you're okay with this. We don't have to do this now if-"

"Yes, Buck, I'm okay with this," Steve replied before Bucky had even finished his sentence. Almost immediately after his reply Steve switched their positions so Bucky was the one pinned against the door.  Steve whined as he tugged hastily at the hem of Bucky's top.

Bucky chuckled at Steve's impatience and pulled the top over his head dropping it on the floor next to Steve's. As soon as his upper body was exposed Steve was mapping out his defined chest with his hands, tracing Bucky's ink with his fingertips and tongue.

"God, I've wanted to get my mouth on these ever since I first saw you," Steve sighed contentedly as he raked his teeth across a quote on Bucky's clavicle. "So beautiful," Steve sighed in between licks and soft bites. Bucky moaned at the deceleration and at that Steve dropped to his knees and made quick work of Bucky's belt before pulling both his jeans and boxers down in one smooth movement.

He slipped Bucky's shoes and socks off and tapped him on the leg, indicating for him to step out of his jeans. Bucky did so and Steve quickly balled them up and threw them across the room to join the other discarded items of clothing. Steve kissed and nibbled up the inside of Bucky's thighs deliberately avoiding where Bucky wanted his mouth most, causing Bucky to whine in frustration. Eventually Steve gave his cock a few languid tugs before sucking the tip into his mouth and swilling his tongue around the head. Bucky groaned loudly and his hand grabbed for Steve's hair while the other clutched at the doorframe for support as he sagged against it. Steve looked innocently up at him from under his long lashes before smirking around Bucky's dick and swallowing him down to the root. Bucky gasped as Steve hollowed out his cheeks, moving enthusiastically along his length. It had been a while since Bucky had been with anyone and he had a feeling that this would all be over embarrassingly quickly if Steve didn't ease up, especially with those pitchy whines he kept making as he sucked Bucky down, like he was getting as much pleasure from this as Bucky.

"S-Steve," Bucky gasped. "You're gonna have to ease up or I'm gonna c-cum" Bucky warned but instead of deterring Steve, it just spurred him on.

He picked up his relentless pace pulling out every trick in the book, determined to make Bucky cum. Bucky tried to hold on for as long as he could but when the tip of his dick hit the back of Steve's throat his fingers clenched in Steve's hair and he let off a string of swears and loud groans as he shot off into his mouth.

"Jesus Christ, Stevie," Bucky sighed after he had come down from his orgasm, resting his body weight against the door. Steve smiled smugly as he rose to his feet, wiping the back of his hand across his mouth. Bucky clasped Steve's face between his hands and pulled him in for a sloppy kiss, moaning in the back of his throat when he tasted himself on Steve's tongue. "You're still wearing too many clothes," Bucky complained with a smirk looking down at Steve when they finally pulled apart.

"Have to do something about that," Steve tutted as he quickly toed off his shoes and socks.

"Mmmmm" Bucky agreed as he fiddled with Steve's zipper, bringing him in for another drawn out kiss. Steve started to walk backwards towards the bed, pulling Bucky with him, stepping out of his pants as he went.

The backs of his knees hit the bed and Steve let himself fall back onto the mattress, wriggling up so his legs weren't dangling off the edge. Bucky crawled up the length of the bed until he was face to face with Steve then yanked his underwear off unceremoniously and dropped it off the side of the bed onto the floor. With a wicked smile he took Steve's wrists, pinned them above his head and nibbled along his jaw.

"What do you want?" Bucky brushed his lips against Steve's ear, his voice so low it was almost a growl. Steve whined and bit his bottom lip, his eyes closed and his brows furrowed as he tossed his head from side to side. The feeling of having his arms pinned above his head, of being lain out completely vulnerable and wholly at Bucky’s mercy was overwhelming and already had him writhing around, rutting his hips up against the air in a desperate attempt to get some friction on his dick. Bucky took both Steve's wrists in his left hand which freed up his right to hold down Steve's bucking hips. "Talk to me Stevie, tell me what you want," Bucky instructed, pulling Steve out of his own head where he still couldn’t believe this was really happening.

"I-" Steve mouth worked, struggling to form a coherent thought let alone a sentence through the haze of lust that was clouding his brain. Steve looked up to stare into Bucky’s nearly black eyes only inches above him. "I want you to finger me" Steve moaned, his back already arching off the bed in anticipation. "Oh God, please." Bucky's jaw went slack and he felt his cock give an interested twitch, already starting to get hard again at Steve's words.

"Fuck..." He managed to moan out before scrabbling through his bedside drawer for the lube while Steve tried to control his arousal. God, Bucky hadn’t even done anything to him yet and it was already the single hottest experience of his life. Steve was by no means a virgin but he’d never reacted this strongly with any of his previous partners. He now knew why, they’d all had one thing missing, they weren’t Bucky.

Bucky kissed his way down Steve's body, stopping to rake his teeth across one of Steve's nipples before soothing it with his tongue while he pinched the other between his thumb and forefinger, causing Steve to clutch at the sheets below him and breathe a broken whimper. Bucky moved down to Steve's hipbone, slowly sucking a hickey there while he spread Steve's cheeks and drizzled lube over his puckered hole. Spreading lube onto his middle finger Bucky traced it round the taut ring of muscle before teasingly dipping it inside. He looked up to watch Steve's reaction who was now clutching at the bed frame above his head as he panted open mouthed into the crook of his elbow. He slowly worked another finger into Steve's tight hole, gradually picking up the pace until he was steadily pumping two fingers in and out of him while using his spare hand to give his own dripping cock some relief.

"Oh fuck" Steve grunted, starting to grind against Bucky's fingers needily. Bucky began to work a third finger in leisurely. "Jesus, Buck. Please, more" Steve panted. At his desperate words Bucky slipped a third finger in while simultaneously licking a stripe up Steve's cock making it jump. "Oh, you bastard!" Steve huffed out a laugh which quickly broke off into a ragged moan.

"Did anybody ever tell you that you oughta wash your mouth out with soap?" Bucky smirked from between Steve's thighs, his breath ghosting over Steve's dick making it twitch and drool pre-cum.

"Fuck you," Steve groaned in response.

"Hey, that's not a very nice thing to say to the guy whose got three fingers buried in your ass," Bucky scolded, curling his fingers inside Steve to rub over his prostate causing Steve to writhe beneath him and let out a wrecked moan.

"Oh my god, fuck. Bucky!" Steve cried. He had to turn his face into the pillow to muffle his moans and screams as Bucky swallowed down his cock earnestly, while continuing his merciless assault on Steve's prostate. Bucky sped up his strokes on his own cock until he was panting around Steve who was keening into Bucky’s touch, balancing right on the edge of his orgasm.

"Shit, you're gonna make me- oh god, m'gonna- fuck!" Steve babbled before his body trembled as his orgasm ripped through him. His mouth hung open in a silent scream, his hole clenching around Bucky's fingers as he emptied himself into Bucky's mouth. Bucky groaned as he swallowed down Steve's cum while he worked himself to orgasm and came all over the back of Steve’s thighs and ass with a soft grunt of pleasure.

Bucky wiped his cum off of Steve and his hand with the sheet, too tired to go to the bathroom and get a cloth, before crawling up the bed to wrap his long limbs around a boneless Steve. They lay there for a while recovering from their orgasms in content silence, listening to the muted music that drifted in through Bucky’s door.

“Do you mind if I smoke?” Bucky broke the silence as he rubbed the side of his face against the top of Steve’s head, burying his nose in Steve’s dishevelled hair.

“Nah, just crack a window ‘cause of the asthma,” Steve spoke into Bucky’s chest and shrugged before releasing Bucky from his grip as Bucky gently pulled his arm out from under Steve.

Bucky walked to where his clothes lay abandoned on the floor and pulled on his boxers before fishing in his jean pocket for his smokes. He opened the window and perched on the ledge before lighting up. Taking a long drag of his cigarette as he looked down onto the grubby street below, watching as two obviously drunk women stumbled down the street with their arms linked, giggling like teenagers.

Steve watched his… what were they? friends? Boyfriends? Lovers? None of those options seemed to describe how he felt about Bucky. If there was such a thing as soulmates Steve was pretty sure Bucky was his. Now that he’d experienced Bucky he knew that he could never go back, he was his. Bucky felt Steve’s gaze on him and looked over.

“What you looking at, punk?” Bucky smirked.

“Nothing,” Steve shook his head slightly and smiled. “Now put that out and get back to bed,” he ordered patting the space on the mattress beside him.

Bucky took a last drag on the cigarette then stubbed it out on the window frame and threw it outside. He exhaled his lungful of smoke before burrowing back into bed and under the covers.

Bucky pulled Steve down to rest his head on Bucky’s chest. Steve snuggled into Bucky. He smelt of smoke, sex and that familiar scent he always wore. It felt almost like coming home after being away for far too long.

“I love you too, y’know,” Steve mumbled into Bucky’s skin as Bucky ran his fingers lazily up and down Steve’s arm.

“Good thing too, 'cause you’re not getting rid of me anytime soon” Bucky murmured, nuzzling closer to him planting a kiss on the top of Steve’s head. “I’m with you ‘til the end of the line.”

 

\- - - - - - - - - -

 

Bucky woke up to the sound of Steve’s soft snoring. The light streamed in through the blinds casting beams across Steve’s face. He snorted slightly, his lips pulling down in a small frown in his sleep. Bucky’s fingers itched to try and capture Steve’s likeness, even though the only thing he could manage to draw was stick people. It wasn’t the first time he’d wished he was as artistic as Steve to try and express how beautiful he was. Steve would no doubt hate to be called delicate but, in the morning light, with his pale skin amplifying his red lips and long lashes kissing his cheekbones, that was the only word Bucky could think of to describe how Steve looked. He couldn’t resist leaning in to kiss Steve lightly on the nose. Steve stirred and he opened his left eye to peer at Bucky.

“You snore,” Bucky kissed along Steve’s jaw.

“Do not,” Steve mumbled, snuggling his head further into his pillow.

“Yeah, you do, but it’s kinda adorable.”

“’M not adorable,” Steve pouted into the pillow, Bucky snorted. “Well you drool.”

“No I don’t,” Bucky protested, but subtly rubbed his mouth with the back of his hand to check.

“No, you don’t,” Steve conceded. “You’re perfect.”

“I know,” Bucky kissed Steve one last time on the forehead before pulling himself out of bed to use the toilet.

He stumbled into the kitchen and flicked on the coffee maker before turning to the living room to see the extent of the damage. But, to his pleasant surprise, the longue looked pretty much as it had before the party, except for a few new stains on the carpet and Maria passed out on the couch with Sam curled up on the beanbag in the corner. Natasha must have roped some of the kids into tidying up, probably Tommy and Pietro. Bucky started making coffee and Clint appeared from Natasha’s room a few minutes later, clearly summoned by the smell. He nodded at Bucky and took one of the mugs of coffee from the counter before perching on the end of the couch. Maria jerked away as the couch moved beneath her.

“Coffee,” she got up and walked to the counter making grabby hands. Bucky passed her a mug and she settled into one of the stools.

Steve yawned as he shuffled into the kitchen wearing one of Bucky’s oversized t-shirts that nearly reached his knees.

“Don’t you dare call me cute,” Steve threatened, scratching his bedhead.

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Bucky smirked. Steve snaked his arm around Bucky’s waist before stealing the coffee from his hand. “You know there’s a mug right there for you,” Bucky motioned at the mug on the countertop. Steve shrugged and proceeded to drink Bucky’s coffee.

“Look, I would apologise for last night,” Clint finally spoke, his voice tired and gravelly. “But I have got a raging hangover and it looked like it turned out okay for you two, so you’re welcome.”

“Could say the same for you,” Bucky nodded towards Natasha’s room.

“My ears are burning,” Natasha appeared from her room, fully dressed and looking perfectly put together and hangover free.

“How are you so cheery?” Sam, who’d been woken up by everyone speaking, asked her.

“It’s a beautiful day, someone made me coffee,” she smiled at Bucky before taking an appreciative gulp. “And everybody got laid,” Sam opened his mouth to argue but she held up a finger to silence him. “Don’t even try and deny it Wilson, I heard you guys,” she smirked at Sam’s red face. “And these two knuckleheads finally got their asses in gear and told each other about their feelings,” she ruffled their hair lovingly. “So yeah, life is good.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> (I’m sorry, the party just turned into let’s see how many cameos I can crowbar into one fic. Goldstar if you can spot them all)  
> Thanks for reading! You can find me on tumblr [here](http://razz-a-ma-tazz.tumblr.com/) and hattietheunicorn [here](http://hattietheunicorn.tumblr.com/) if you have any questions about the fic or just want to come fangirl with us.  
> Now for some gifs (because gifs are fucking awesome)
> 
> Bucky asking Steve what his name is:  
>   
> Bucky talking to Natasha about getting a job:  
>   
> Bucky's reaction when Steve tells him to forget their almost kiss:  
>   
> Clint when Bucky walks in to audition:  
>   
> Natasha walking in when they’re all hung over:  
>   
> Maria noticing how Steve is looking at Bucky at the bar:  
>   
> Sam trying to explain to Steve that he’s being an idiot:  
>   
> Steve talking to Bucky, probably being self-deprecating:  
>   
> Steve talking to Bucky in the morning (just imagine he's skinny):  
>   
> And finally Steve in his hipster glasses because why the hell not?  
>   
> 


End file.
